Justice Srem Sai, the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has said the Attorney General’s office will file to oppose former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s demands for a default judgment.
The Deputy Attorney General clarified that the government failed to file its defence because they raised concerns objecting the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS court to hear the case.
Speaking in a TV3 interview on September 4, 2025, he said, “This dawn, we woke up to another process which was served on us from the court that the former Chief Justice is seeking judgment in default of defence. In other words, we’ve not defended the substantive suit; we had 30 days to do that, and so we have not filed our defence.”
“But our preliminary thought is that, if we are objecting to the jurisdiction of the court, and the court has taken arguments and has adjourned to give a ruling one way or the other, we do not exactly think that we have to file on the substantive issue. This is because the question before the court is whether the court has jurisdiction or not,” he stated.
He further added, “The court has to clear that aspect first, and when it says that it has jurisdiction to assume, then they will order us to file our defence.
Indeed, if the court was interested, it could have ordered that we should file our defence together with our preliminary objection because we were heard”.
“It’s not as if we argued that matter in the ECOWAS Court, and we were not heard. The court, in adjourning, didn’t give any further direction. They told us that they are rising and then they have adjourned the case indefinitely, and when they come back, they will give us further directions.
So, we were waiting for the court to give us further direction, only to be served with a notice for default of defence. We would have to file to oppose the application for default judgment,” he added.
Justice Srem Sai comments follow Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, who has called on the ECOWAS Court to deliver judgment in her favour.
The former Chief Justice argues that Ghana’s Attorney General has failed to file a response within the stipulated time.
Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo’s request follows her removal from office by President John Mahama.
Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, in her suit, accused President John Dramani Mahama of failing to specify the claims in the petitions for her removal.
According to the details of the lawsuit, she is seeking ten reliefs from the ECOWAS Court, including $10 million in compensation for moral and reputational damages suffered by the Applicant as a result of her illegal suspension and unfair investigation.
Meanwhile, President John Mahama sacked the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from office with immediate effect after he received a first report from the five-member committee he constituted to investigate three petitions brought against the Chief Justice.
Hours after President Mahama received the committee reports, Chief Justice Torkornoo was sacked with immediate effect.
A statement from the presidency stated, “President John Dramani Mahama has, in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, removed the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from office with immediate effect”.
“This follows receipt of the report of the Committee constituted under Article 146(6) to inquire into a petition submitted by a Ghanaian citizen, Mr. Daniel Ofori. After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office.
“Under Article 146(9), the President is required to act in accordance with the Committee’s recommendation,” the statement concluded.
However, a leaked document on social media concluded that Justice Torkornoo had engaged in conduct amounting to “stated misbehaviour” under Article 146(1).
The Key finding read, “Unlawful expenditure of public funds: The committee held that the Chief Justice caused the Judicial Service to pay travel expenses for her husband and daughter during private holiday trips in 2023, including per diem allowances. This, the report stated, was an “avoidable and reckless dissipation of public funds.”
Abuse of discretionary power: The committee found that her handling of the transfer of one Mr. Baiden breached Article 296(a) and (b) of the Constitution, describing the act as misbehaviour.
Interference in judicial appointments: The report also noted that she sought to bypass the established process for nominating Justices of the Supreme Court, contrary to precedent set in the Ghana Bar Association case. The committee concluded this amounted to misbehaviour”.
The committee subsequently recommended her removal in accordance with Article 146(7). President Mahama, bound by Article 146(9), which makes the President’s action mandatory once such a recommendation is made, formally removed Justice Torkornoo by Warrant of Removal under the Presidential Seal.
Watch the video below:
Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem Sai has been explaining why Ghana is yet to file a response to the CJ's case at the ECOWAS court#3NewsGH pic.twitter.com/IukngmNCAG
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) September 4, 2025